Triathlon - Brownlees' smiles hide the pain

By Mitch Phillips RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The Brownlee brothers' incredible demolition of the best of the rest of the world in Thursday's Olympic triathlon might have looked straightforward but to deliver a textbook race in Rio they had to go through "hell" first. Alistair, 28, became the first triathlete to retain an Olympic title and Jonny, 26, added a silver to the bronze he picked up in London four years ago. Alistair took time to savour the moment, walking down the finish chute holding the Union Flag aloft, before collapsing and embracing his brother, who had suffered similarly in the searing Rio heat. They are the first brothers to finish 1-2 in the same Summer Olympics event since Italian showjumpers Raimondo and Peiro D'Inzeo in 1960. Behind the smiles on the ultimate family portrait, however, is a story of staggering commitment, not just since their London success but for their entire lives. "It's been so hard, hell really," Alistair told Reuters. "It's only in the last few weeks it's really come together. We trained to really commit and we really committed today. "We’ve been pushing each other all the way but I've been in pain pretty much every day." A year ago, after racing in pain for years with ankle ligaments battered and torn from years of fell and cross-country running, things eventually became so unbearable that Alistair decided to bite the bullet and go under the knife. His surgeon rebuilt all the ligaments and tendons and fixed the related calf damage and sent him away to begin the long, slow road to recovery. Meanwhile Jonny's progress was brought short by a stress fracture in his shin that made him miss the Rio test event. For men who like to grab their training by the throat, it was difficult to ease their way back. "We worked so hard to get back to our best," said Jonny. "We've pushed each other and helped each other and that's why it was so emotional today." If fit, the brothers were always going to start as favourites, particularly with the unfortunate injury absence of Spain's world champion Javier Gomez, and they took the race by storm from the get go. A good swim set them out in the lead group of 10, then on the tough 40km bike course they forced the pace relentlessly to rip the threat from the legs of their rivals. The biggest danger was the sweltering heat, which has brought each of them down to earth on previous occasions, but they refused to back off and once into the run were both soon clear. By halfway it was just a question of which would prevail. Jonny has beaten his bigger brother occasionally, though usually on shorter sprint distances, and had real hope of topping the podium on the back of their recent training experiences. "I felt sure first and second was safe but Jonny has been killing me in our sessions and I've been in pain all the time," said Alistair. Jonny had similar thoughts. "I'm used to getting beaten by him but I've been going a bit better than him recently and I thought if it came down to a sprint then maybe I could win." Alistair no doubt had the same idea, so put his foot down during the third lap of the 10km course to forge clear. Jonny could not respond but kept going strongly enough to finish well clear of bronze medallist Henri Schoeman of South Africa. "I was just so happy to see that blue carpet," Alistair said. I knew I had a good lead so took the chance to enjoy it. "It's just an amazing feeling really. When he crossed the line I just said 'we've done it'. To see little brother come over the line 10 seconds after you is phenomenal. It's so satisfying. We've worked so hard together, for each other." (Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Andrew Hay)